Live an intentional life
People call me irresponsible.
Why? Because I tell them that the first thing I do after waking up and going for a morning walk is play games with my online friends for a few hours straight before starting my day.
I can see why they'd think that way. Society looks at entertaining activities as a reward for hard work. Why would I deserve them when I've done nothing? The answer is simple.
It's not a reward. It’s my requirement.
It all starts within
I've been obsessing with designing my daily routine for quite a while now. I try to integrate good habits that serve me in the long run, things like walking for 10,000 steps, drinking 2 liters of water, and sleeping at 10 pm.
Despite the much better routine, I noticed myself struggling with low motivation and feeling down. At first, I didn't know what had happened to me. All I knew was something was off. After giving myself time and carefully delving deeper into my emotion, I found the answer. I'm missing human interactions.
I was lonely.
The missing part
Before I became a coach, I used to work within an organizational context where I always had plenty of human interactions with my colleagues to supply the social needs I wanted as a human being.
However, when I started working at home, I didn't have that anymore. While I enjoy working alone quietly, the missing part affects me mentally.
I couldn't focus on my work and easily distract by my phone. I'd feel better around 8 pm when I played games with my friends. But it was too late to start working at that point.
An unusual experiment
Attempting to find the solution, I decided to schedule gaming sessions with online friends in the morning instead since most of my clients prefer evening or nighttime (the 12 hours time difference makes this possible).
To my surprise, it worked. I had a great time participating in the groups, and it automatically became my morning ritual. I noticed the impact since day one that my brain could come up with a lot of ideas, and I wasn't distracted by my phone as much. It was almost too good to be true.
While the new routine helped me regain my clarity, I often spent too much time playing games. There were days I started playing at 9 am and stopped at 1 pm. That was when it hit me that I needed to balance this well
Eventually, I created the line when I had to stop and start working. It was hard at first to tell my friend I'll not be able to join them as long, but they were understanding, which helped a lot. Nowadays, I play with them for a couple of hours at most, then switch to work.
Know your Why
When you know your Why and the filter is clear, it's not like there are options. The option is obvious. There's only one option. — Simon Sinek (2017), The Origin of the WHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRaqe9M2DYc
We copy the lifestyles of those who we admire because we want to be like them. We wake up at 4 am as a zombie desperately needs a coffee just to have a brain fog until 10 am. Without a clear reason behind what we do, we'll keep running in the same place.
While it's true that successful people establish a routine that supports how they operate, we need to be aware that we're not them. We don't have the same environment or resources they have. Our own bodies and minds don't work the way theirs do, either.
Like the tree that blooms in spring and withers in winter, we need to understand what we need and why we need it. It's about understanding the values and beliefs that motivate us and become our compass for making meaningful decisions.
It’s those who can clearly articulate their purpose and use it as a guiding principle in their actions that thrive and become successful.
Now it's your turn!
Try dedicating a few minutes, closing your eyes, and asking yourself some questions. Do you notice something missing from your life? Anything that would make your day better. It's important to incorporate activities that recharge you both physically and mentally to live a happy life, for example.
If you feel physically tired, you may need more rest.
If you feel mentally tired, you may need more personal time to do things you love.
If you feel lonely, you may need to find a company or community to hang out with.
When you know what you want to do, it's easy to go all in, as I did in the past. It's a much better way to start small. Going slow will help your new habit stick to your existing routine since there'll be less friction. If you want to learn more about developing a new habit, feel free to check my book summary on Atomic Habits by James Clear. If you find it helpful and want to read the entire book, you can fetch it on his website or Amazon. (These are not affiliate links)
Whatever your answer is, be true to them and give them priority. Be creative about how you can adjust your day to make it work for what you want. Like me, It'll take some experiments to achieve what you want, but it's a great feeling when you're excited to wake up and live another day.
Thank you for reading. If you still need help with finding what you want or how to make it work, reach me out and we’ll work together to help you find your answer :)
